UKC

You are required by law to give the information...

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 EZ 27 Jun 2012
...asked for in this form.

Obviously I am talking about the "Voter Registration Form 2012"

I understand that this is a minefield issue as it deals with law, but from reading about what law is applicable I found that it is the "Representation of the People Act 1918" and that this is apparently a statute rather than common law and that failure to complete it is an "offence" rather than a crime and is summarily punishable by a penalty (of £1000).

There are obvious implications for credit referencing that I don't care about here.

There are many discussions on the web that describe this detail as being akin to TV Licensing scary wording and not actually enforceable.
Has anyone not completed it? Does the applicable law ever get enforced? Has anyone been 'caught'? Should there be an illegality (not stigma) to choosing not to enter into a contract to vote with one's council?

Please don't just flame me for asking the question. Note that I have not said what I would, should, will do or have done. The question is academic.
In reply to EZ: You don't HAVE to be on the Electoral register and registering for voting, I thought, is voluntary.
 winhill 27 Jun 2012
In reply to EZ:

I just rang the freephone number and confirmed there were no changes. I nearly did it online but didn't want the gumint to get my IP in case I got shipped out to fight in Iran or sumfink.
 Dominion 27 Jun 2012
In reply to EZ:

> There are obvious implications for credit referencing that I don't care about here.

Surely there are both pros and cons regarding that, for example if wrongly given a bad credit rating based on incorrect information, it could be used as proof on your behalf?



Back to the topic in hand, though, isn't it similar to the situation regarding the census?

I think you are more likely to get into trouble for giving deliberately false information, rather than not giving information at all.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_Register#United_Kingdom says

A fine of up to £1,000 (level 3 on the Standard scale) can be imposed for giving false information.

which is different from not supplying any information at all, in my view...

OP EZ 27 Jun 2012
In reply to higherclimbingwales:

I thought the same as you but finally felt prompted to go and do a little reading. It does sound as though it is a very grey area.

I'm certainly glad that we are not obliged to vote as, for example, Australian citizens are.

Can anybody describe the difference between a common law and a statute?
And I am presuming, having not read about this at all, that a penalty is a fixed amount where a fine is a variable amount [within a set range] that is decided by court judgement as to how much it is.
 verygneiss 27 Jun 2012
In reply to EZ:

Common law is the system of law used in England and Wales (and therefore American law), and which forms part of Scots Law. It is basically a system of law developed through the decision of judges/outcomes of cases, and in E&W precedent is generally binding (stare decisis). E.g. Roe vs. Wade (1973) and Donoghue vs. Stevenson (1932) are important court decisions which influenced law in common law and mixed legal systems.

Statutes are the end product of legislation, i.e. laws dictated by the executive (the House of Commons, Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly), e.g. the Land Reform Act (Scotland)(2003), one of my favourite statutory instruments.

NWO resistance 28 Jun 2012
In reply to EZ:

EZ please watch this John Harris talk from 2009 youtube.com/watch?v=oYJzXkcJgEU& if you want to know more about common law and statutes

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